Increased accuracy for vehicle navigation, missile guidance, and precise targeting, is in high demand by manufacturers and governments alike.
Radar devices, such as a precision terrain-aided navigation (PTAN) radar system, in conjunction with digital terrain elevation maps which provide stored latitude, longitude, and elevation data for a given area or terrain, have been previously utilized to determine a vehicle position and assist navigation. Similar sensors for missile guidance systems, such as and lasar radars (ladars), that are capable of mapping in three dimensions, may be used in determining a missile position.
However, certain terminal sensors, such as visible (optical) and infrared imagers, provide only two-dimensional sensor images. These sensors are incapable of determining terrain elevation data and thus cannot be employed in a scheme, such as PTAN, that matches stored terrain elevation data to sensor data.
As a result, there is a need for systems and methods for processing two-dimensional sensor data to accurately determine position and aid in navigation.